Alex Wilkes was named president of CooperVision, Americas, in June of 2022. Prior to joining CooperVision, he worked for EssilorLuxottica, holding executive positions at Pearle Vision and LensCrafters. He has also worked at the global consulting firms Accenture and Deloitte. Recently, Optometric Management spoke with Mr. Wilkes, discussing consulting, myopia correction, green efforts, and the company’s Best Practices initiative.

You started your career in consulting. Are there any business lessons you learned as a consultant that have helped you in the ophthalmic industry?

With consulting, I was faced with different client challenges and different market dynamics to navigate through. It helped me see connections among things that may appear disparate at first and use inductive reasoning to problem solve. Here’s one analogy: I’d spent a couple years consulting within the telecommunications and high-tech space. When I joined Luxottica, I found a lot of similarities between the optical industry and the wireless phone industry: both have long purchase cycles. Also, the lifetime value of a wireless consumer is incredibly strong, just like the lifetime value of an optical customer. Taking lessons from the wireless industry, I asked, “How can you apply them to optical?”

In 2022, you moved from the retail side to CooperVision. What are some of the trends that have impressed you so far?

I’m really passionate about our position on myopia. We have people, resources, and R&D invested in making children’s sight our fight.

It’s not just a tagline — I have a 10-year-old who is a -0.50 D. How great is it that there’s now an FDA-approved solution (MiSight 1 day) that both corrects her vision and gives her the chance to not have her vision deteriorate? Because it’s a soft contact lens, which optometrists fit all day long, we’re seeing more doctors begin to play more in the space. But I think it’s fair to say there’s still a long way to go for optometry to participate more fully.

We have also seen the category of daily disposable lenses accelerate, and the doctors who lean into the 1 day modality are winning.

There’s also our focus on sustainability. Our CEO, Al White, recently said a guiding principle for us, as a company, is to do the right thing. Focusing on sustainability through our partnership with Plastic Bank, and ensuring our facilities achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification is doing the right thing.

One of the biggest investments we’ve recently made is in Puerto Rico at one of our largest manufacturing facilities, which now has a completely self-contained power grid.

I’ve also been impressed by our Best Practices program. I think it’s valuable to invest in a forum that’s structured and guided, where doctors can share lessons on how they optimized the business of optometry. I get a snapshot of this every time I go out in the field with our sales reps. I always learn something new.

What business advice would you give optometrists to flourish in 2024?

Optometrists are among the most trusted of medical professionals. With this trust comes an accountability to educate patients on all new technologies and advances in the field. For contact lenses specifically, I encourage you to share the latest in multifocal, toric, and myopia treatment options, as this will help you not only maximize your business in the near term, but help build long-term patient loyalty. OM